Tonight, we’ll read about hermit caves and rock temples from The Subterranean World, written by G. Hartwig and published in 1871. A hermit is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions although in modern colloquial usage, "hermit" denotes anyone living apart from the rest of society, for any reason.

Hartwig’s book presents a 19th-century view of natural and human-made underground wonders, from geological formations to sacred spaces carved into rock. In this excerpt, he turns his attention to the austere dwellings of ascetics and monks—places where silence and solitude were not only accepted but sought after. These caves and temples, often carved into cliffsides or hidden in remote valleys, served as places of meditation, penance, or retreat.

The tradition of eremitism can be traced back thousands of years, from the deserts of Egypt and Syria to the forested hills of India and the mountainous regions of China. Some hermits lived entirely alone, while others formed loose communities around a shared spiritual purpose. Their dwellings, carved or adapted from stone, remain today as enduring symbols of withdrawal from worldly life, and of the quiet human impulse to seek meaning in stillness.